The use of computing devices has become increasingly prevalent in modern society. As the cost of computing devices has declined and as the usefulness of computing devices has increased, people are using them for a wide variety of purposes. For example, many people use computing devices to perform work tasks as well as to seek entertainment. One type of computing device is a computer.
Computer technologies continue to advance at a rapid pace. Computers commonly used include everything from hand-held computing devices to large multi-processor computer systems. These computers include software operating systems and applications that include user interfaces, in order to make them useful and accessible to an end user. Computers are increasingly linked with other computers through networks. With the expansion of computer technology, the size of networks has continued to increase. Networks may link computers together that are a great distance apart.
One of the challenges involved with computers is network booting. A computing device may not have an operating system stored in local memory. Instead, the computing device may acquire the operating system from an image file on network sources. A challenge in network booting is providing the correct image file in a distributed network environment. As can be observed from this discussion, systems and methods that make network booting more time efficient and less burdensome may be beneficial to the end user and the management of a computer network.